Recommendation: During the next reauthorization for surface transportation programs, Congress should consider including language in the reauthorization bill that would require DOT to develop and implement transparency measures for DOT's review and selection process for discretionary grants. Such measures should, at a minimum, help to ensure that the evaluation process is clearly communicated, that applications are consistently evaluated, and that the rationale for DOT's decisions are clearly documented. Such measures should be developed in line with Office of Management and Budget guidance, federal internal control standards, and recommended practices for evaluating and selecting discretionary grant awards (Matter for Consideration 1)

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of November 2019, Congress has not enacted a reauthorization measure for surface transportation programs. The current authorization expires on September 30, 2020.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that DOT, in its notice of funding opportunity and evaluation plan for each remaining INFRA-funding cycle, clarify the circumstances under which DOT may select applicants to receive requests for additional information. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: As of November 2019, DOT told us that, for the fiscal year 2020 INFRA awards, it plans to provide information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and evaluation plan explaining under the circumstances under which additional information may be sought from applicants. DOT stated that it plans to complete these actions by March 2020. We will continue to monitor DOT's actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should develop procedures for each remaining INFRA-funding cycle to ensure that when additional information is requested from an applicant, the specific rationale behind the request is documented (for example, to promote geographic diversity among projects), as well as to ensure that DOT documents the rationale if similar projects were not afforded an opportunity to provide additional information. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: As of November 2019, DOT told us it will document the basis for seeking additional information from applicants and describe the procedures for doing so in the evaluation plan for the FY 2020 INFRA awards, which it expects to conclude by September 2020. We will continue to monitor DOT's actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that DOT provides information to applicants in its notice of funding opportunity for each remaining INFRA-funding cycle regarding: (1) how scores on merit criteria are used, if at all, to determine whether projects advance to the Secretary for selection, and (2) how, if at all, DOT plans to use merit scores to determine which projects should receive an award. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: As of November 2019, DOT told us that, for the fiscal year 2020 INFRA awards, it plans to provide information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity that will more clearly state (1) that projects are advanced to the Secretary based on how they are evaluated against the selection criteria and (2) how evaluations against the selection criteria are used to determine which projects should receive awards. DOT stated that it plans to issue the Notice of Funding Opportunity by March 2020. We will continue to monitor DOT's actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should clarify in the SCASDP evaluation plan how reviewers should assess a grant application's alignment with the priority and secondary selection criteria and assign the application rating categories. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should develop an evaluation plan for the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program in advance of issuing the notice of funding opportunity and ensure the program's evaluation plan clearly defines how all review teams should apply criteria, assess applications, and assign ratings to ensure that all applications are consistently reviewed. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: In 2019, we found that DOT's evaluation plan for the INFRA 2017-2018 round of funding was not finalized prior to DOT's issuance of the notice of funding opportunity. In addition, we raised concerns with a lack of documentation outlining why members of the INFRA senior review team followed up with some applicants over others. DOT told us that, for the fiscal year 2020 INFRA awards, it plans to provide information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and evaluation plan explaining under the circumstances under which additional information may be sought from applicants. DOT stated that it plans to complete these actions by March 2020. We will continue to monitor DOT's actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should ensure all program applicants be notified in writing of the outcomes of the application selection process. For unsuccessful applicants, the notification should include a brief explanation of the decision. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT officials told us that they formally notified unsuccessful INFRA applicants of selection decisions via email and offered applicants the chance to schedule a debriefing with DOT officials. As of January 2020, we are assessing DOT's actions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should require INFRA program teams document their decision-making rationale throughout all levels of review in the application selection process. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: In 2019, we again raised concerns with the lack of documentation outlining DOT's rationale for its INFRA award decisions, as well as a lack of documentation regarding why members of the senior review team followed-up with some applicants over others. DOT stated that it would work to address these issues by updating its internal guidance. We will continue to monitor DOT's actions.

Recommendation: Given DOT's new discretionary grant programs and similar challenges we have found with previous DOT programs, the Secretary of Transportation should issue a directive that governs department-wide and modal administration discretionary grant programs. Such a directive should include requirements to: (1) develop a plan for evaluating project proposals in advance of issuing a notice of funding availability that defines the stages of the process, including how the process will be overseen to ensure a consistent review of applications; (2) document key decisions, including the reason for any rating changes and the officials responsible for those changes, and how high-level concerns raised during the process were addressed; and (3) align stated program purpose and policy priorities with the evaluation and selection process.

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOT concurred with this recommendation and, in March 2019, issued a memo directing secretarial offices and operating administrations involved in awarding discretionary grants to implement our recommendations and to include them in their policies and procedures. In June 2019, we reported that, due to a number of issues, it is unclear how this action will address our recommendation. For example, we found that the memo was essentially limited to a repetition of our recommendation and that DOT did not take steps to ensure that the various affected offices consistently interpret and implement the recommendation. DOT officials told us they wanted to provide the affected offices flexibility to implement the recommendation, but that the Department would assess the need for additional guidance based on revisions to its Financial Assistance Guidance Manual. DOT completed these revisions effective January 2020, and all affected offices are expected to complete developing their policies and procedures by May 2020. We will continue to monitor the Department's actions and assess the extent to which they address our recommendation.